Evening capital., 1887-06-30

An Enormous Market House with Acres
Under Cover-NTethods OF Buying and
SelIing-Stirring Scene at & O'Clock I'm
the Morning.
There are now twelve pavilions of iron
and glass at the Paris Halles Centrales.
Each one seems TO be devoted to differ
ent sort of edibles, and yet the space thus
allotted under cover is little more than
half large enough for the city's needs.
The four largest pavilions are those where
fish, poultry, vegetables and dairy prod
uce are sold. All the pavilions are well
ventilated, the stalls are commodious and
''down among the dead men, are base
ment cellars, where the stall renters are
permitted TO store such imperishable
goods as they have been unable to dis
pose of in the course of the day.
The wagons bringing the meat from
slaughter houses and poultry from trains
begin to arrive about IL o'clock in the
evening, and they continue coming
throughout the night The employees lift
out the baskets ard arrange them along
the sidewalks. In each basket is the car
cass of an animal, either whole or cut up
into quarters, and carefully wrapped up
in stout canvas; also a label bearing the
name of the sender, the weight of the con-
tents and sort of bill of lading, which is
handed to.a market official who makes
from it his memoranda. Then number
is placed on all the merchandise which
comes from the same shipper, after which
the board of health inspector makes his
examination, marks V on all meat that
he considers fit for food and has the rest
removed to another place to be looked at
more carefully later on. When it is
finally found unfit to cat it is confiscated
and either sent to the Jardin des Plantes
to be thrown to the wild animals, or is
totally destroyed.
In the meantime the forts de In halle,
or market porters, have commenced their
part of the common work. Handling the
meat which has passed inspection with
large iron hooks, they carry it to the pub
lie weighing station, and when the weight
of each piece has been twice recorded,
once by the clerk of the consignee and
once by the city's employe, label is fas-
tened to it with galvanized iron pin, and
then the meat is hung up in rows TO be
sold, a la erie, or at public auction, to the
retail dealers, and as the pieces are sold
the name of the purchaser is written on
the other side of the label.
This is the routine for earcasses and
quarters already prepared but there is
other meat in large quantities which has
to undergo two operations known as the
epluchage trimming and the decoupage,
or cutting up. This is done by five men,
and is n difficult and sometimes dangerous
work. The decoupeurs wear sort Of
cap, to which a lighted candle is fixed;
! this is the only light that they have TO do
their work by, and it must be executed
with great rapidity in the midst of crowd
OF porters and other market hands. There
arc it is true, few gas Jets here and
there, but not enough of them to enable
the inspectors and cutters to do their work
properly. Why don't they burn more
| gas? Well, because it is known in Paris
that gas is bad thing for meat and other
food, and the less of gas there is used
about eatables the better for mankind.
Four o'clock is the hour when the vente
a la criee begins. The din is appalling
Strong armed wenches men and boys are
rushing about or pushing trucks bearing
hampers full to the brim, and statesmen
perched aloft in small pulpits bawl their
offers in voices which sound like dismal
howls under the zinc rooings, while Gus
toners bid in the same strain. The buyers
at this early hour are stallkeepers, proprie-
tors of restaurants and hotels, and caterers
! to hospitals or asylums. These people, by
coming early, get their provisions much
cheaper than the public will do in the
course of the day. though this is not true
of fish, which is subject TO astonishing
fluctuations. The wholesale selling ends
at o'clock, and now cooks and poor wives
make their appearance by thousands.
| 1t is a curious and an instructive scene,
/ assure you, that of the markets at an
early morning hour
The street is so crowded with people
| that wheeled vehicles cannot enter; but
| beyond the church stand rows of cabs,
with their horses heads facing the shops
/ on the other side of the little rue that runs
along the front of the ancient ediice
Here ON the sidewalk stand hundreds Of
baskets Of fruit, grapes and whitish
| brown things that on closer inspection
/ prove to be mushrooms. There Is wide
| passage between the two lines Of paviI-
ions, and at this early hour this passage is
| that lovely that even you, good people of
the golden coast, would cry out: "Ye
godsl how beautiful" The colorg Of all
| the rainbows that liave arched them
solves over the earth since Noah went
yachting greet orr eyes. 1t is n paradise
/ Of roses, camcilfas, violets, prinlroses, of
| all fhe flowers in the world, ct least it
/ nEIs41c 80. On dEG NIlDt-S - IlIA
English people call roots, but Which we in
| our superiority pronounce vegetables. Hum
dreds ard hundreds Of rows of red carrots,
as many more roEs of white turnips;
rows three or four feet high, mind you,
and so skiIlfullyi,iled that no ycstige of
the green stc.ss can be seen, aud yet to
each root is such an appcndagc. And tho
cabbT1es and the cauliflowcrsl and the
baskets of string beans and peas. and the
| green stufTs for salatisl and tho potatoes,
ssAFrah, the spudsF' rs heard tic gentle
mau-he may even now be one CT our first
| citizens for all know-say once upon a
| time in Dublin.
| A little further. on. are the fishes, on
wicker pIattcrs, like round basket lids
| with handles on either side. turbot,
skate, n1ackereI, sole, salmon, perch, etc.,
| In ten, 6fteen and twenty pairs at time.
| Thes nshwomen are not those CT Billings
[ gate, but they win do. have 10 wish to
Il